freenovelworld Chapter 1394 Funeral
Chapter 1394 Funeral
Stone steps winding upwards from the foot of the mountain.
Level by level, it disappeared into the depths of the rain and mist.
That was a road that the engineering corps had cleared in seven days and seven nights.
At this moment, the edges of the cement, which had not yet fully hardened, were still covered with a layer of white dust that had not been cleaned off in time. The rainwater seeped into the dust, creating stains of varying shades, like ink spreading on rice paper.
At several corners, you can even see exposed broken rebar.
That was clear evidence that the construction schedule was too tight—the formwork was removed before the concrete had fully dried after being poured, and the construction team moved on to the next steep slope.
No one felt rushed.
Everyone who sees these broken stubble knows what it means.
This means the young engineering platoon leader who was yelling in the night, directing the reversing of the vehicle;
This means that the volunteer worker who hadn't slept for thirty hours straight and finally fell asleep against the mixer;
It means those countless shovels that were wielded under emergency lights until the wee hours of the morning, their hands blistered and bleeding, yet they still refused to stop.
The path they forged was not a perfect one.
It is the road that leads heroes home.
-
Drizzling rain—
It's still raining.
It's very light and thin.
As if the sky, unwilling to disturb the peaceful slumber of these mountains, churned all the sobs into a silent mist.
Gu Chengyuan remained motionless.
The rain had soaked through his black hair, with a few strands falling down his forehead and clinging to his pale skin.
He gazed at the white tombstones on the mountaintop, which were gradually becoming clearer in the morning mist.
His brother was there.
His comrades-in-arms were there.
Those young soldiers he personally presented flags to, inspected, criticized, commended, and drank celebratory wine with.
They're all there...
Thinking of all this, Gu Chengyuan took a deep, slow breath.
The air, filtered through the rain, was as cold as a knife...
He suddenly felt like crying...
But he was the Chairman of the Military Commission of Zhou Bang, the Commander of the Central Plains War Zone, and the core of the gaze of the thousands of people standing solemnly on this mountaintop.
There was no one above him anymore... He had to shoulder all the burdens that had fallen upon him, even if it meant grinding his teeth to powder...
-
Beside him, his father, Gu Jianguo, still stood ramrod straight.
The mother, Wenwan, still clutched the pair of gloves she had knitted for her younger brother.
The sisters-in-law remained silent in the rain.
Behind him, the high-ranking generals of the war zone remained as steadfast as the mountains.
Further away, the thousands of soldiers, dressed in white linen and wearing dragon-spine exoskeletons, still stood in the rain, like a thousand lifeless iron statues.
A light drizzle, like ten thousand hanging mourning banners, enveloped the entire Yangwangpo.
The altitude is 1,712 meters.
This is the place in Guizhou that is closest to the sky.
This was also the heroes' final moment on earth.
Deep in the rain and mist, the huge battle flag, hastily made overnight, was fluttering in the wind.
The flag was soaked through, yet it remained unfurled, like a pair of heavy, wet wings that refused to close.
It points southeast.
Pointing towards Gucheng Lake.
It points to the land they swore to protect with their lives, a land they could never leave.
-
Gu Chengyuan finally made a move.
He took his first step forward slowly, very slowly.
Black leather shoes stepped onto the first newly built stone step. The cement surface was not completely dry, and the soles of the feet made a very slight, sticky, muffled sound when they landed.
The sound was very soft.
It was as light as a drop of rain hitting another drop of rain.
It felt as light as a heart bursting deep inside the chest.
But everyone behind him heard it.
-
Gu Jianguo took a step.
His back remained straight, but the moment he stepped onto the stone steps, the knuckles of his fingers, which were supporting Wenwan's arm, turned slightly white.
Wenwan followed along.
She was still clutching those dark blue gloves, rainwater seeping through her fingers, dripping onto the newly carved stone steps, mixing with the dust on the cement surface to form a light, indelible grayish-blue.
Du Wanying took a step.
Yang Xueli took a step.
Lin Miaomiao took a step.
She didn't loosen her grip on her lower abdomen, her steps were slow and steady, each step firm and solid, as if using her entire weight to tell the baby in her womb:
'Mom will take you to see Dad off on his final journey.'
-
Cai Anxin took a step.
Zhu Jun took a step.
Jia San Niu took a step.
Zhao Gang took a step.
Li Kun took a step.
Further on, there were more silent faces...
Director of the Political Department of the Tongren Military Region, Commander of the Yucheng Garrison, Director of the Night Province Wartime Production Committee, Representative of the Cultural Troupe, Head of the Liaison Office for Families of Martyrs...
And representatives from various units in the war zone who were too busy with official duties to come in person, but sent their most trusted deputy or secretary-general.
Everyone had a black armband tied around their left arm.
The epaulets on everyone's shoulders were soaked through by the rain, making them appear even darker.
Everyone is climbing upwards step by step in the drizzle.
Further away.
At the same moment, the more than one thousand soldiers, whose upper arms were bound with white linen and who wore Dragon Spine-I exoskeletons, moved.
It is not an order.
No password.
No one even turned to look at their comrades beside them.
They simply lifted their feet at the same time, stepped onto the first stone step at the same time, and followed the silent group as they began their ascent to the summit.
The hydraulic joints of a thousand exoskeletons emitted an extremely faint hissing sound of airflow at the same frequency.
The roars merged together, like the breathing of an ancient behemoth in its slumber, deep, powerful, and endless.
A thousand pairs of military boots, treading on the same stone steps.
The footsteps are heavy.
With firm steps.
In the rain and mist, the winding stone steps that led upwards now appeared as a slowly flowing, black river.
-
The elevation of Yangwangpo is 1,712 meters. There are 3,001 newly built stone steps from the foot of the mountain to the top.
At this moment, this silent team is measuring it inch by inch with their footsteps.
No one spoke, not even a single extra, heavy breath.
The only sound was the soft, pattering of raindrops hitting the exoskeleton armor.
Only the dull, muffled sound of military boots hitting the stone steps could be heard.
Only that soaked battle flag fluttered in the wind atop the mountain, like a wing that was always outstretched and refused to close.
-
As the team climbed with solemnity, determination, and reverence.
They walked for a long time up the three thousand and one stone steps.
It's not that I can't walk fast, it's that I can't bear to walk fast.
With each step upwards, you get one step closer to that pure white tombstone.
With each step upward, we get one step closer to those who can never return home.
With each step upward, the distance to farewell shortens.
Everyone wants things to be faster.
Everyone wants things to go slower.
-
at last.
mountain top.
At that moment, the rain and mist suddenly thinned out.
It was as if the sky could no longer bear to cover it, and slowly lifted the last veil.
The first rays of dawn struggled to emerge from the gaps in the clouds.
The light was an extremely pale gold, filtered through the rain curtain a thousand times, as gentle as the downy feathers of a newborn bird, softly landing on the mountaintop of Yangwangpo.
It landed on that group of pure white tombstones.
-
More than sixty connected steles.
None of the monuments are inscribed with personal names.
Only the serial number is engraved.
Headquarters of the Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Infantry Brigade, Yezhou.
The 1st Company of the 1st Battalion of the 1st Infantry Brigade of Yezhou... the 3rd Company of the 2nd Battalion... the 1st Company of the 3rd Battalion... the artillery battalion, the air defense battalion, the engineer company, the communications company...
Company 1, 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment, Gucheng Lake Garrison Brigade... Company 1, 4th Battalion...
1st Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Regiment, Gucheng Lake Garrison Brigade... 1st Company, 4th Battalion...
……
The stele is a series of steles.
The grave is a communal grave.
Because none of the martyrs' remains could be recovered.
Spore rain, mycelium, fungal animals, sympathetic explosion, raging fire...
They returned themselves to the scorched earth of Gucheng Lake and dedicated themselves to the people of Zhou Bang, leaving not even a single charred bone fragment behind.
The survivors could only retrieve a handful of soil mixed with their blood from the ruins.
That handful of soil is now sealed in the base of every tombstone.
It blends seamlessly with the mountains and rocks of central Guizhou.